Is it starvation mode???

Mcgrawhaha

I was told time and time again 1 year ago, that I would stop losing weight, lose my hair, have brittle nails, blah blah blah, if I continued to eat at 1200 calories a day. I was told I would fail, I was told I wouldnt last that long and give up, and I was told that if I did lose weight, I would lose all my muscle (please see pics to know my muscle tone is fine). Well, in 11 months, I lost my weight... 95 pounds, lost minimal muscle, as I made sure to consume adequate protien and incorporated strength training into my dailt routine. My hair is as thick as ever, my nails are great, and even with my busy life of being a wife, mother of 5, full time student, and everything else... I never felt weak, I never felt drained, I was never not able to complete my daily workouts, and I never felt like giving up! I AM IN THE BEST SHAPE OF MY LIFE RIGHT NOW! So, just as I concluded from the begining, the starvation mode myth, as thrown around on MFP, is nothing more than a myth... and I am glad I did my own research and used my own common sense when deciding to continue with my plan, instead of listening to all of the end of the world your going to die stavation mode anti 1200 crowd!

You mean, you are living proof that you can remain on a deficit and continue to lose weight? No way... NO WAY!? What next, unicorns?


ETA: In all seriousness, thank you for sharing that. It's what people need to hear!!

Her body fat supplied the deficit calories (32cals/lb/fat/day) and her diet was protective of lean mass.

and alot of body fat there was

And you look great.

thanks!

and to add, i went on maintenance a few months ago, and have maintained with no issue on an average of 2000 calories a day. so, eating at fairly low calories for a year did not damage my metabolism. this week, i have decided to drop back into deficit to take off my final 6 pounds for a total 100 pound loss!

neanderthin

I was told time and time again 1 year ago, that I would stop losing weight, lose my hair, have brittle nails, blah blah blah, if I continued to eat at 1200 calories a day. I was told I would fail, I was told I wouldnt last that long and give up, and I was told that if I did lose weight, I would lose all my muscle (please see pics to know my muscle tone is fine). Well, in 11 months, I lost my weight... 95 pounds, lost minimal muscle, as I made sure to consume adequate protien and incorporated strength training into my dailt routine. My hair is as thick as ever, my nails are great, and even with my busy life of being a wife, mother of 5, full time student, and everything else... I never felt weak, I never felt drained, I was never not able to complete my daily workouts, and I never felt like giving up! I AM IN THE BEST SHAPE OF MY LIFE RIGHT NOW! So, just as I concluded from the begining, the starvation mode myth, as thrown around on MFP, is nothing more than a myth... and I am glad I did my own research and used my own common sense when deciding to continue with my plan, instead of listening to all of the end of the world your going to die stavation mode anti 1200 crowd!

You mean, you are living proof that you can remain on a deficit and continue to lose weight? No way... NO WAY!? What next, unicorns?


ETA: In all seriousness, thank you for sharing that. It's what people need to hear!!

Her body fat supplied the deficit calories (32cals/lb/fat/day) and her diet was protective of lean mass.

and alot of body fat there was

And you look great.

thanks!

and to add, i went on maintenance a few months ago, and have maintained with no issue on an average of 2000 calories a day. so, eating at fairly low calories for a year did not damage my metabolism. this week, i have decided to drop back into deficit to take off my final 6 pounds for a total 100 pound loss!

Yeah, in this scenario I suspected things would transition easily. Keep in mind that with less body fat to draw energy from that large deficits can be problematic. Lean mass can be jeopardized and I would probably recommend a slower approach and work with 1500 cals.

Iwishyouwell

I was told time and time again 1 year ago, that I would stop losing weight, lose my hair, have brittle nails, blah blah blah, if I continued to eat at 1200 calories a day. I was told I would fail, I was told I wouldnt last that long and give up, and I was told that if I did lose weight, I would lose all my muscle (please see pics to know my muscle tone is fine). Well, in 11 months, I lost my weight... 95 pounds, lost minimal muscle, as I made sure to consume adequate protien and incorporated strength training into my dailt routine. My hair is as thick as ever, my nails are great, and even with my busy life of being a wife, mother of 5, full time student, and everything else... I never felt weak, I never felt drained, I was never not able to complete my daily workouts, and I never felt like giving up! I AM IN THE BEST SHAPE OF MY LIFE RIGHT NOW! So, just as I concluded from the begining, the starvation mode myth, as thrown around on MFP, is nothing more than a myth... and I am glad I did my own research and used my own common sense when deciding to continue with my plan, instead of listening to all of the end of the world your going to die stavation mode anti 1200 crowd!

Many of those here who squabbled at you, and the approach you took, don't have even a small fraction of success that you've achieved, nevermind looking as fit, lean, and healthy as you do.

Kudos to you for absolutely murdering that fat, getting in shape, and doing it in a common sense way that worked for you.

I don't even talk much about how I lost my 100+ lbs in that ticker, and counting, because it flies in the face of most MFP "rules". But when you find your way, a way that works like gangbusters, and leaves you feeling incredible during your journey, none of the "rules" or the peanut gallery finger wagging means much at all.

cookiealbright

No, it's not starvation mode.

Mcgrawhaha

I was told time and time again 1 year ago, that I would stop losing weight, lose my hair, have brittle nails, blah blah blah, if I continued to eat at 1200 calories a day. I was told I would fail, I was told I wouldnt last that long and give up, and I was told that if I did lose weight, I would lose all my muscle (please see pics to know my muscle tone is fine). Well, in 11 months, I lost my weight... 95 pounds, lost minimal muscle, as I made sure to consume adequate protien and incorporated strength training into my dailt routine. My hair is as thick as ever, my nails are great, and even with my busy life of being a wife, mother of 5, full time student, and everything else... I never felt weak, I never felt drained, I was never not able to complete my daily workouts, and I never felt like giving up! I AM IN THE BEST SHAPE OF MY LIFE RIGHT NOW! So, just as I concluded from the begining, the starvation mode myth, as thrown around on MFP, is nothing more than a myth... and I am glad I did my own research and used my own common sense when deciding to continue with my plan, instead of listening to all of the end of the world your going to die stavation mode anti 1200 crowd!

Many of those here who squabbled at you, and the approach you took, don't have even a small fraction of success that you've achieved, nevermind looking as fit, lean, and healthy as you do.

Kudos to you for absolutely murdering that fat, getting in shape, and doing it in a common sense way that worked for you.

I don't even talk much about how I lost my 100+ lbs in that ticker, and counting, because it flies in the face of most MFP "rules". But when you find your way, a way that works like gangbusters, and leaves you feeling incredible during your journey, none of the "rules" or the peanut gallery finger wagging means much at all.

thanks! and i put it out there, because, im not any different than any other woman. so, my point is, fairly low calories can be done in a very smart way. so, to see some women, who could really benifit from a low cal diet get scared away by these starvation mode people upsets me because, for many, the benifit out weights the very small risk. (i only say there is a risk because in any deficit, you risk muscle loss)... alot of people, myself included, cant stay motivated on a loss of 1/2 pound a week, and then give up... many women, like myself, need to see a better loss to keep us going... dont scare these women away with the idea that they will be bald with no finger nails and butt cheeks that sag to the ground from loss of muscle! come on!

broox80

Just look at people who lose a TON of weight with surgery. They cant eat much at first and are I am sure well below 1000 cals daily and they lose. That is how I look at it when people say things about starvation mode. I do think it can mess your metabolism up and you will eventually gain the weight back if you are eating too few calories and then start eating normal again. But thats all just common sense.

Edited to say that too few calories would be in the hundreds, not 1200. I know that people on here have done very well with 1200 or so cals a day.

Iwishyouwell

For the sake of all the emaciated, starving, dying human beings the world over I so, so wish the popularized ideas of "starvation mode" were true.

in_the_stars

You mean, you are living proof that you can remain on a deficit and continue to lose weight? No way... NO WAY!? What next, unicorns?

:yawn:

FrenchMob

Why does this type of thread show up so often - oh I see, it's a newb.

BTW, unsourced web blogs are usually not the best to back up your argument.

Although some call it "starvation mode", it's also referred to metabolic adaptation, starvation response, adaptive thermogenesis, etc. and they pretty much all mean the same thing. No it doesn't happen over night, or even in a week. It's a gradual process that can take months. This is what you would call a "stall" especially when people get close to their goal weight.

You judging the OP by their start date would be like judging you for losing only 10lbs in four years.

Yes she's a newb to this place otherwise she would have known this article was posted several times already, and the "starvation mode" is myth debate shows up every week with the same result. People find a blog post on the internet and think they're going to save the world of misinformation. Instead of educating yourself with unsourced blog posts, start searching the scientific study sites. Then you'll have more credibility.

Or perhaps I could belittle someone's weight loss by calling it cute. Maybe I could go from thread to thread spreading bitterness and insults.

Nah... not my kind of thing.

I'm sorry to hear you gained the weight back that you so proudly tried to rub in my face. I honestly am, and maybe that is the reason you feel the need to dismiss mine. I've lost a total of 60 pounds. Is that cute too? And I've kept it off.

You can call me a "newb" all you like but take a good look at my ticker wink

If you took the time to actually read it before commenting, you would have seen the discussion of adaptive thermogenesis in the article.

Typical MFP shenanigans.

So lets see, you preach to me about belittling? So what would you call the bold quoted text above? Your first jab was indicating you lost more weight than I did, then you jabbed about keeping it off. Hypocrisy at it's finest.

smc864

Why does this type of thread show up so often - oh I see, it's a newb.

BTW, unsourced web blogs are usually not the best to back up your argument.

Although some call it "starvation mode", it's also referred to metabolic adaptation, starvation response, adaptive thermogenesis, etc. and they pretty much all mean the same thing. No it doesn't happen over night, or even in a week. It's a gradual process that can take months. This is what you would call a "stall" especially when people get close to their goal weight.

You judging the OP by their start date would be like judging you for losing only 10lbs in four years.

Yes she's a newb to this place otherwise she would have known this article was posted several times already, and the "starvation mode" is myth debate shows up every week with the same result. People find a blog post on the internet and think they're going to save the world of misinformation. Instead of educating yourself with unsourced blog posts, start searching the scientific study sites. Then you'll have more credibility.

Or perhaps I could belittle someone's weight loss by calling it cute. Maybe I could go from thread to thread spreading bitterness and insults.

Nah... not my kind of thing.

I'm sorry to hear you gained the weight back that you so proudly tried to rub in my face. I honestly am, and maybe that is the reason you feel the need to dismiss mine. I've lost a total of 60 pounds. Is that cute too? And I've kept it off.

You can call me a "newb" all you like but take a good look at my ticker wink

If you took the time to actually read it before commenting, you would have seen the discussion of adaptive thermogenesis in the article.

Typical MFP shenanigans.

So lets see, you preach to me about belittling? So what would you call the bold quoted text above? Your first jab was indicating you lost more weight than I did, then you jabbed about keeping it off. Hypocrisy at it's finest.

:yawn:

That's cute.

DebbieLyn63

Thanks for the link, OP. I have been here for 15 months and have not seen an article that explains it quite as well as this one did. I think I will be posting this link to every knee-jerk response of "you need to eat more" that gets thrown into threads before they even know anything about the person asking , "I am doing everything right and why am I not losing anything!"

I love the last line of the article that responds to that question with-

"Because if you WERE doing everything right and you WERE in a deficit, you’d currently be losing weight and we wouldn’t be having this conversation."

And congrats, OP, for your success in losing your weight and keeping it off. Looks like you didn't use any excuses, you just did it!

ETA, because I am OCD about spelling and grammar!

Jkn922

Thanks so much for this article, learn something new everyday here. Clears up a lot of worries for me

DebbieLyn63

Bumping this cus it needs to be a sticky!

smc864

Thanks for the link, OP. I have been here for 15 months and have not seen an article that explains it quite as well as this one did. I think I will be posting this link to every knee-jerk response of "you need to eat more" that gets thrown into threads before they even know anything about the person asking , "I am doing everything right and why am I not losing anything!"

I love the last line of the article that responds to that question with-

"Because if you WERE doing everything right and you WERE in a deficit, you’d currently be losing weight and we wouldn’t be having this conversation."

And congrats, OP, for your success in losing your weight and keeping it off. Looks like you didn't use any excuses, you just did it!

ETA, because I am OCD about spelling and grammar!

That's one of my favorite quotes from the article. :happy:

Cristjams

Very informative article with a lot of explanation and logical conclusions! Thanks for the post!

sassyjae21

This is great information, thank you for posting. Now when I accidently go under my calorie intake of 1200, i won't panic and think OMG I'M GOING TO STAY FAT!! This makes me feel better.

That being said, I am so proud of all of you, anyone who lost any weight. I'm struggling right now. I feel like i'm logging things accurately, but I may not be. Even still, i'm working out and trying to stay around 1200 calories a day. I don't find it hard to stay around 1200 calories, all i have to do is watch what i eat and stay away from fast foods. Working out about 30 minutes a day, but still struggling. 5'4 and 138lbs and seeing no difference as of yet. Still staying with it, it's only been 2 weeks and i'm not going to give up. You all are great motivation. I know i can do this with help, and articles like this.